EVANSTON, Ill. -The Duke University wrestling team opened its dual season Saturday night by splitting bouts with No. 13 Northwestern and Stevens Tech at Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern. The Blue Devils fell to the Wildcats 33-12 before rebounding with a 33-15 victory over the Ducks in the final match of the evening.

Double winners for the day were redshirt sophomore Brandon Gambucci and redshirt freshman Dylan Ryan. Eight of the nine Blue Devil wrestlers won at least one match out of the two duals as Duke registered a combined four pins.

Gambucci, wrestling at 133 pounds, was outstanding as he picked up his fourth and fifth falls of the year to improve to 7-1 for the season. Ryan earned his first two wins of the young season and his first career dual victories as a Blue Devil. Also posting pins for Duke against Stevens Tech were redshirt freshman Conner Hartmann and junior Brian Self.

Duke vs. No. 13 Northwestern

The Blue Devils opened their dual season with a hard-fought battle against the Wildcats. Earning wins for Duke were Gambucci and Ryan. Duke traded wins in the early going with the 13th-ranked squad, but the Wildcats won four of the final five bouts to come away with a 33-12 victory.

Gambucci put Duke on the scoreboard first with a pin at 133 pounds. With the Blue Devils trailing 6-0 after one bout, the Mansfield, Ohio native answered with a first-period fall of his own to make it 6-6. Gambucci scored a takedown against John Coukos just five seconds into the match and added two more nearfall points 14 seconds later en route to the pin with three seconds left in the first period.

After a tough 3-0 loss by sophomore Tanner Hough at 141 pounds to give Northwestern the 9-6 lead, redshirt freshman Marcus Cain evened the dual once again, 9-9, with a gritty 9-3 decision over Dylan Marriott at 149 pounds.

Wrestling in his first career dual at Duke, Cain trailed 3-2 after the opening period. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native rallied for a 5-3 lead in the second with a three-point nearfall. Starting down in the final two minutes of the bout, Cain made it a three-point match, 6-3 with an escape and then tacked on a takedown and riding time in the final five seconds for the 9-3 victory.

Northwestern collected bonus points in each of its next three wins to go in front 25-9 with three bouts remaining. Two of the victories came from top 15 wrestlers, while the win at 157 pounds was a forfeit.

Like Cain in the 149-pound division, Ryan also was seeing his first career dual action for the Blue Devils. Up against Marcus Shrewsbury at 184 pounds, Ryan used a takedown and an escape and held off Shrewsbury for the 3-2 decision. Shrewsbury made it a one-point bout with an escape to start the third period, but Ryan was outstanding to earn his first career dual victory.

At 197 pounds, Duk's Hartmann suffered a tough 6-2 setback for just his third loss of the season. The Wildcats closed the dual with a technical fall from eighth-ranked Mike McMullan and the 33-12 victory.

Duke vs. Stevens Tech

The Blue Devils opened their second dual of the evening with a commanding 16-3 major decision from redshirt senior Peter Terrezza. The veteran 125-pounder jumped out to a 7-1 lead in the first period and cruised to his first win of the season and 58th of his career.

After Gambucci pinned his foe in just 1:19, his fifth first-period fall, Hough added a narrow 1-0 decision at 141 pounds to put the Blue Devils in front 13-0. An even bout between Hough and Cody Curtiss, an escape by the Blue Devil sophomore with three ticks left on the clock in the second period proved to be the difference that kept the Ducks off the scoreboard.

Stevens Tech picked up three consecutive victories, including a forfeit at 157, to go ahead 15-13 with four matches remaining. However, Duke responded in a big way with bonus points in three of the final four matches of the night.

Redshirt freshman Trey Adamson started with a 19-4 technical fall over Kalen Gans. A big 7-1 first period by Adamson lifted him to his seventh win of the season and first tech fall victory. Ryan, after being held to just one point in five minutes, dominated the third period en route to a 6-1 decision over Doug Medrano.

The Blue Devils wrapped up the road trip with a pair of pins from Hartmann and Self. Duke's wins leader needed just 1:14 to grab his 13th win of the year and third fall. Self, held scoreless in the first period, needed just 36 seconds into the second session for his second fall of the season and first career win at heavyweight.

Duke closes competition for the 2012 calendar year next weekend at Eastern Michigan. The Blue Devils will take on the host Eagles and Big 10 foe Michigan, Dec. 8.